With borough mayor Russell Copeman leading the charge, Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce is turning up the heat on neglectful landlords.

In what is a Montreal first, the borough council authorized this month a $250,000 fund that will be used to carry out emergency repairs on neglected rental housing. Established with budgetary surplus, the fund will enable borough workers — after advising property owners and giving them a chance to remedy the situation — to carry out the much-needed repairs themselves. The borough will then replenish the rolling fund by billing the landlord for each intervention.

This new tactic in the growing war on slumlords has been garnering praise from community groups as borough officials continue to work toward improving the living conditions of renters. Yet those same community groups are now asking the borough to clarify what criteria will qualify an apartment for “emergency repairs.”

Copeman said he will be working with centre city’s housing department, public health and local community organizations to establish that criteria by July 1.

“The safety and security of the tenant has to be at risk,” said Copeman, citing examples such as a front door not locking, no heat, failed electricity or a lack of potable water.

“There will be lots of incidents where apartments do not meet our code, our bylaws, but the health and the safety of tenants is not at risk — and we have to make that distinction. Otherwise, we’d be doing all the work, essentially.”

Sheetal Pathak, a community organizer with Project Genesis, a longtime social advocacy organization, said the new emergency fund is welcome, as it will address urgent problems quickly. There are emergency situations, such as structural issues, that are clear emergencies, she said, but suggested that cases such as humidity, mould and vermin should be added to the list.

“These are things that have an impact on people’s lives, on their health, on their mental health,” said Pathak. “This is why we look forward to establishing those criteria with the borough.”

If there’s one person who wants vermin infestations to be a qualifying criteria, it’s Kamalday Cassie, a Plamondon Ave. resident.

“I have never seen in my life roaches like this,” said Cassie, who has also lived in Trinidad, India and New York. “There are even roaches in the fridge. I have roaches in the fridge door, in the freezer. There are roaches in my bathroom, in my living room, on the walls. It’s unbelievable. For the last eight years I’ve been living here, I’m complaining to the city.”

Cassie lives in the apartment, which has also had mice and bedbug infestations, with her three young-adult children. She said none of them cope well with the roaches as they crawl in the furniture and are active all night. While her landlord refuses to intervene, she said she doesn’t want to move out because she is waiting for a spot in low-income housing. She applied 14 years ago and she is slowly climbing the waiting list. As a unit may be available soon, she is waiting rather than taking on the stress and expenses of moving twice.

Project Genesis has been helping Cassie write letters to the city and her landlord. But Cassie says she doesn’t want to go through the hassle of a Régie du logement court battle.

The borough council adopted the fund on April 3 without the specific criteria in place, Copeman explained, because he wanted to establish the fund quickly and work out the mechanics in the coming months.

This step is one of several the borough has taken in recent years to combat neglectful landlords. The borough announced in March that since it hired two additional inspectors, the number of building inspections climbed to 3,919 in 2016 from 2,250 in 2014. The borough also said it has reduced its response times for non-emergency requests to three days from 15.

Despite these improvements, Copeman said, “I know there’s much more work to be done.”

During the April 3 borough meeting, councillors also authorized an agreement with LogisAction N.D.G., a new organization that will work with the area’s most vulnerable tenants.

Developed under the direction of several local housing groups, LogisAction N.D.G., will receive $20,000 a year for the next two years from the borough. It will take on and support the tenant assistant services currently offered by the N.D.G. Community Council, helping to empower and educate tenants.

N.D.G. is composed of 65 per cent rental housing compared to 61 per cent in the rest of the city, according to LogisAction N.D.G. Average rental prices in 2011 were higher in N.D.G. ($762 per month) compared to the Montreal average($746 per month), despite the fact that 27 per cent of the population is low income compared to 25 per cent city wide, according to the 2011 census.

“In our borough, like the others, there are always parts that need improvements,” said LogisAction project manager Fahimeh Delvar. “I think, when it comes to the living conditions of tenants and the state of our housing infrastructure, we have to all work together to meet our objective of improving quality of life for residents.”

Montreal tenants with a neglected building issue can phone 311 to make a complaint. In N.D.G., borough director Stéphane Plante said, an inspector will first visit the property to determine the severity of the situation. If, for example, there is no water going to the apartment, the borough will demand that the situation is repaired quickly or face fines. If the problem is still not managed, the borough will proceed with repairs, then bill the landlord, he said.

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